We have come a long way since early
conservationists started with many beleaguered nesting sea turtle populations in
the middle to the late part of the 20th Century. Nesting
turtles are now protected in many countries around the world, there
are now very few large legal harvests,
and many populations, such as the one we study in Ascension Islandhave begun to recover incredibly well.

I feel that the
level of awareness of sea turtle conservation and goodwill towards
this charismatic animal group is at an all-time high. This is down to
a tremendous cadre of people (many thousands) who work tirelessly for
turtles across the globe. Sea turtles are a good news story and cause
for ocean optimism. There is, of course, still work to be done.

The challenge now, is to look after
turtles in the sea as the main threat to sea turtles is in incidental
capture in fisheries (bycatch). There has been much focus on large-scale driftnets, longlines and trawlers and a great deal of progress
made. Recently it has become ever more apparent that because of where
they operate and their very large numbers that coastal and inshore
fisheries are responsible for very high levels of bycatch. It may be
that each vessel does not catch many, but when scaled up their impact
can be substantial e.g. inPeru.

To
effect change, however, fishers need to be engaged in the process. As
a case in point, I outline a current Darwin Initiative Projectwe are supporting in Conkouati-Douli National Park in the
Republic of Congo, Central Africa. The park plays host to important
populations of elephants, chimpanzees and lowland gorillas but also
has important aggregations of nesting olive ridley and leatherback
sea turtles and humpback dolphins. These are co-located with
impoverished people living in coastal areas who have high degree of
fisheries dependence and limited alternative livelihood
opportunities. There is a modest degree of turtle bycatch, but perhaps
of greater concern is the much larger effort associated
with unregulated trawl fisheries who are a source of conflict with
the artisanal fishers and has an, as yet, unassessed impact on marine
turtles.

Fishermen in Conkouati-Douli
National Park. Pic: Tim Collins, WCS

Using a participatory approach,
artisanal fishers are volunteering to carry GPS trackers to map their
activities in high resolution, allowing us to assess their footprint,
possible bycatch interaction hotspots and integrate their needs into
future marine spatial planning for marine protected areas that can
have maximum benefit to biodiversity (and ultimately fisheries as a
result of spillover) with minimal cost to stakeholders. These data
will hopefully feed into the development of a marine plan similar to
that in neighbouring Gabon, which is also of global importance for
marine turtles, which has recently announced a new network of marine
parks that will comprise 23% of its EEZ.

Although the well demonstrated threats
of direct take, habitat loss and degradation may still be of concern
to some populations, and we must consider emerging threats such as
climate change and marine plastic pollution, artisanal and small
scale fisheries is the key area on which I believe we must focus our
efforts. A more coherent ecosystem based approach is undoubtedly
important. Moreover, progress in this regard is crucial to sustain
the livelihoods of many millions of coastal people who are so
dependent on the sea for nutrition and employment.

Brendan Godley is the Professor of Conservation Science/Director of the Centre for Ecology & Conservation at the University of Exeter. Follow Brendan on Twitter @BrendanGodley